1920-1930 Charter Revocation

Town Square

Town Square

Jeffersontown holds claim as the longest incorporated town in Jefferson County. Middletown was actually incorporated a few minutes earlier on May 3, 1797, but at some point revoked its incorporation. Twice -- in the 1920s and 1930s -- the residents of Jeffersontown came close to revoking their own town charter as well.

In December, 1920, J.L Ellingsworth submitted a petition to annul the town's charter, primarily because many residents felt a property tax of 50 cents on every $100 was too much, considering that Jeffersontown had no water or sewerage system, the main roads and school were already maintained by the county, and the fire department consisted of only one man and one vehicle.

A counter-petition, headed by Dr. J.R. Shacklette, was submitted asking to retain the charter, and in December 1923, the Jefferson Circuit Court denied Ellingsworth's petition, since many of its signers had moved, passed away, or stated that they had been unaware of what they were actually signing at the time.

A second attempt at charter revocation occurred in January 1934, when an effort was made to keep Police Judge Ben S. Talbot from setting up a duplicate of the old magisterial fees courts in Jeffersontown, which would “turn the Jeffersontown Police Court into a collection agency." The town trustees decided to attempt to dissolve the town’s charter, and their threats proved successful enough to allow Jeffersontown to run its own affairs once again.